Sunday, August 2, 2015

We have been back in the
states for two months now. I have stopped interjecting French words into
conversations. (I find that most people just look at me strangely when I say
“voila” instead of “see” or “there you are”.) I try to remember to say
“yoo-hoo” instead of “coucou” when I’m trying to get a neighbor’s attention.

We have acclimated fairly
well to our state-side lives. Even though we have been living our schizophrenic
lives for seven years now, I find that I still get surprised when we make the
transition.

·I lament the
fact that I cannot walk to a grocery from our Lansing home. (The City Market is a little
over two miles from here – but there remains only one produce stand (and
the good cheese shop). There are neighborhood weekly farmer markets but nothing
quite like market day in any village in Provence.

·Americans dress
far more casually than the French. Sweat pants and T-shirts seem closer to the
norm than the aberration. We seem to have forgotten Jerry Seinfeld’s comment
that ‘people who wear sweats in public are announcing that they have given up’.

·Dining out in
the states usually includes taking home a doggy-bag – more accurately, a
styrofoam container – for the second portion that was served as part of your
meal. The size of the portion served here is much larger than what we expect in
France.
(There are now some French restaurants which have begun offering take-away
containers.)

·For a long time,
we have thought that food in France
was more expensive and wine in France
was less expensive than here but my perceptions are changing. Meats, cheeses
and local vegetables seem to be equal to or less than American prices. For
instance, a log of goat cheese that costs almost $10 in the states sells for about
¼ th that amount in France.
‘Exotic’ meats, e.g., duck, quail, rabbit, even lamb, are far less expensive in
France
and more often locally produced. Eggs are more expensive but bread – a baguette
– is about a third of the US
price. (Clothing is more expensive in France.)

·We are fortunate
to have a home with a backyard large enough for my vegetable garden. Many fewer
houses in our village have enough land for a garden and at our apartment, we
can manage only a few herbs grown on the balcony.

·It seems easier
to find a good craftsman/mason/carpenter in the states. We have heard horror
stories about craftsmen and their work here but not nearly as often as we hear
the stories of poorly done work in our village. not sure whether Angie’s List covers
France…

This past weekend, we went
to the christening of our godson’s first child. While the baptism was the main
event, driving to North Carolina permitted me
to reconnect with a high school friend and to see my sister and beau frère who
drove from Wilmington to meet us in Raleigh for lunch. The events and
gatherings were all fun: what beats family and friends?